On Embry – by Rachel Henry

CEY is honored to have
many independent designers contribute designs to our line.

Today, Rachel Henry –a
local knitter and designer, is here to talk a little about her newest CEY
design.

On Embry – Rachel
Henry

For my guest stint on the CEY blog, I thought you, dear
reader, might be interested in learning a bit about the design process (or at
least, my design process for a particular pattern) by talking about Embry.

Embry started out a
little different from the gorgeous scoop-neck top in Mesa. My
original proposal used a different yarn, had beads, and a completely different
neckline. The lace edge and overall
shape of the top remain the same, but obviously a lot changed too.

The call for Spring/Summer 2014 went out in April of last
year. I immediately had several ideas I wanted to submit. Although I was busy
with a certain knitting competition at the time, I didn’t want to miss out on
the opportunity to design for CEY. I carefully calculated that I would have
plenty of time to make one sample and pattern, possibly two, and got to work.

I think Embry was
mainly inspired by the phrase “lady-like shapes and embellishments” on the
call’s mood board– it made me think of a lace edging from Weldon’s Practical Knitter that I’d seen on Franklin Habit’s blog. I
picked up a spare ball of Soft Linen (one
of my absolutely favorite yarns) some pretty-shiny beads, and worked up a
version of the edging that made me very, very happy.

After blocking the swatch, and falling completely in love
with it, I wanted to use it all over the entire top! Love, dear reader, is sometimes
a wee smidge blind. My sketch for the submission had the lace edging at the
hem, the cuffs, AND overlaying a crew neckline.
Beads and lace everywhere! You can see from my sketch that the basic
shape of Embry is there – the princess seams in front and back (influenced by
Amy Herzog, naturally), the short sleeves, the length of the body. But (let’s
be brutally honest), that neckline is a bit much.

I sent in my ideas, with a note that the lace-edged tee was
my personal favorite. Imagine my delight
when it was accepted! The only catch … it was needed in Mesa instead of Soft
Linen, and the Creative Director Susan Mills quite rightly requested a plain neckline. Also? No beads. That broke my heart a
little bit, but I understood the decision.

The chance to re-think the neckline made me lean towards a
deep scoop neck (so flattering!). I
cleared that final idea and got to work.
I’d seen a very attractive reverse-stockinette rolled edge recently, and
put that in place for Embry’s neckline.
The sample worked up quickly and easily.

I was extremely happy with the final pattern and sample – I
was given a beautiful soft blue (pastel without being anemic), and the sized-up
motif looked great in Mesa. Here are is
a quick photo on a dress form before handing it in.

I really enjoyed designing and making Embry and hope you
love it as much as I do!